TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Adam Pottinger and Mike Sears connected on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning and Brennyn Cutts went the distance on the mound as Indiana State secured the Missouri Valley Conference series win with an 11-1 victory over Bradley on Saturday afternoon.
 
Pottinger, Sears, and Luis Hernandez all homered for the Sycamores (26-7, 9-2) as Indiana State connected on 13 hits in their second consecutive run-rule win over the Braves (10-21, 4-7) over the weekend series. Pottinger finished with a team-high four RBIs in the win, while five ISU players had multi-hit games as ISU picked up its 14th consecutive conference series win.
 
The Sycamores struck early in the bottom of the first as Pottinger connected on a two-out, three-run home run off Bradley starter Travis Lutz (2-5). Sears followed on the next pitch with a drive into the trees beyond the center field fence to stake Cutts (4-1) to the early 4-0 lead.
 
That was all the support Cutts needed in the contest as the junior right-hander went the distance in his first collegiate complete game facing 25 batters and throwing just 83 pitches in the win. The Greenup, Ill. native retired 10 batters in a row at one point and surrendered just Jackson Chatterton's solo home run in the third and Beau Durbin's single in the sixth in the complete-game, two-hit effort. He finished with six strikeouts on the mound.
 
The Sycamores scored four runs in the first, two in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth, and the final two in the sixth as Indiana State continued to put the pressure on the Bradley pitching staff on the weekend. Randal Diaz and Dominic Listi both connected on two doubles apiece in in the win, while Sears was on base in all four plate appearances in the win.
 
Lutz took the loss on the mound for the Braves allowing 12 hits and 10 runs while striking out six over 5.1 innings of work. Nick Hainline went the final two outs to close out Bradley's time on the mound.
 
How They Scored

• Indiana State connected on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning as Adam Pottinger connected on a two-out, three-run blast over the right center wall scoring Randal Diaz and Dominic Listi, while Mike Sears followed with a solo shot to straightaway center on the next pitch to put the Sycamores ahead 4-0.
• The Sycamores added to the lead in the bottom of the second inning as Listi connected on an RBI double to center field one-hopping the wall to bring home Diaz, while Luis Hernandez followed with a bloop single scoring Listi to give ISU the 6-0 edge.
• Jackson Chatterton put the Braves on the board in the top of the third inning with a one-out solo home run to right center to cut the Sycamore lead down to 6-1.
• Diaz put two more across for Indiana State in the bottom of the third inning as the junior shortstop connected on a bases-loaded, two-run double scoring Sears and Grant Magill to put the Sycamores ahead 8-1.
• Hernandez connected on home run No. 10 to lead off the bottom of the fourth driving the ball over the trees in left center to give Indiana State the 9-1 lead.
• Pottinger singled home Hernandez and Joe Kido connected on a sacrifice fly to right scoring Stinson to give the Sycamores the final 11-1 advantage in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap the scoring.

News & Notes

• Indiana State connected on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning marking the second such occurrence for the Sycamores this season. Luis Hernandez and Parker Stinson went back-to-back on March 19 against Indiana in the Sycamores' 15-7 win over the Hoosiers.
• Indiana State connected on three home runs on Saturday afternoon marking the 14th game of the 2024 season with multiple homers on the year and seventh game with three or more this season.
• Josue Urdaneta ran his on-base streak to 22 consecutive games on Saturday afternoon as the second baseman connected on a third-inning single. He finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
• Luis Hernandez connected on his 10th home run of the season joining Mike Sears (13) as the lone players on the Sycamore roster with double-digit homers this year.
• Indiana State ran its Missouri Valley Conference series winning streak to 14 consecutive series after Saturday's win over Bradley. The Sycamores have gone a perfect 14-0 in the second game of the series dating back to the end of the 2022 season.
• Since the start of the final series of the 2022 season, Indiana State has posted a 35-5-1 record in MVC play.
• Brennyn Cutts posted his second consecutive quality start and first collegiate complete game in the 7.0-inning contest against Bradley. The 7.0-inning start equaled a career-long for the junior, while his six strikeouts were one off his season-high.
• ISU recorded its first back-to-back run-rule wins in Valley play in the Mitch Hannahs era following Saturday's game as the Sycamores topped the Braves 14-2 and 11-1 over the first two games of the series.
• Adam Pottinger tied a career-high four RBIs on Saturday afternoon marking the third time in his ISU career he's achieved the feat and first since bringing home four last season on April 24, 2023, against Southern Illinois. 

Up Next
Indiana State closes out the weekend series against Bradley at Bob Warn Field on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET with the game to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
Sunday's promotion at The Bob is 90's Day. Anyone with a valid ID with a birthday in the 1990's can get a $5 GA ticket.
 
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